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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27797491">boxes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/blades/pseuds/blades'>blades</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Twosetviolin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:26:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>628</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27797491</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/blades/pseuds/blades</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>there's so much of dad in this little box. and clearly, it was once everything he held dear.<br/>so who's eddy, and where is he now?<br/>-<br/>a study of what could have been, and what could be to come</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eddy Chen/Brett Yang</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>boxes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>you're looking through the attic, looking for craft materials, when you find it: a dusty little box, tucked away and forgotten. curiously, you pry it open. a bunch of yellowed photos, trinkets that had seen better days. the remainder of memories from a past age.</p><p>you lift out the photo at the top carefully and study it. many of the people aren't familiar to you, but... wait, isn't that dad? it is, it's dad and... some people who must have been his friends when he was younger. they're posing outside dad's uni. you flip through the next photos. there's people in suits, people at the club... huh, dad used to be a wild one, didn't he?</p><p>you continue on. the years pass, and dad just doesn't seem to age, does he, but the photos gradually stop being so yellow. sometimes there's a faded receipt in the mix. it looks like it's for bubble tea. there's some other miscellaneous photos, but mostly they're of the stage. there's dad performing. there's dad performing, but with... a hula hoop? there's dad posing with a massive audience behind him, all grinning into the camera. and through it all, there's... someone else. another man. who is that?</p><p>you realise, that man has been in nearly every photo. and there's more photos of them together, too. at the zoo, at the theme park, at the mall. in taiwan, brisbane, and singapore. always, always together.</p><p>and then at the bottom of the pile: a photo, two little boys holding their violins, dressed in concert black that's just a little oversized on them, standing on the edge of a stage, smiling into the camera. you have a feeling it's still them in this photo.</p><p>below the photos, letters. a bunch are addressed to dad. they're well-worn, read multiple times over the years. and there's one more, pristine even after all this time, addressed to one eddy chen.</p><p>something compels you to read it, so you do. you learn everything dad has been keeping in his heart for decades.</p><p>---</p><p>when you're done, you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding in. after all, it's not every day you happen upon your father's most well-kept secret. mum... hasn't been in the picture for a long time. now you think you might know why.</p><p>there's so much of dad in this little box. and clearly, it was once everything he held dear. and yet. none of them seem familiar. you don't think any of them are still part of his life. and the box has been dusty for a long time.</p><p>so who's eddy, and where is he now?</p><p>there's one more thing in the box. simple enough to guess what it is, when it's in a box like that. you open it, and there it is. a ring, with <em>BY x EC</em> carved on the inside.</p><p>"annie?"</p><p>oh. shit. shit shit shit</p><p>"what are you doing?"</p><p>you turn around, and there's dad. he looks straight at you first, a little concerned. and then his eyes catch on the half of his life's memories that you hold in your hands.</p><p>"oh." he drags a hand along his face, sighs. "it's alright, annie. just- put that away."</p><p>"but dad-"</p><p>"i haven't looked at it in a long time. it's fine."</p><p>"no it's not!"</p><p>"annie, please-"</p><p>"DAD!"</p><p>he's alarmed, to say the least. you are too - why <em>are</em> you so invested in someone from dad's past who you've never met, anyway? yet, it feels important enough that you press on.</p><p>"dad," you get up from where you were sitting on the floor, and walk to him. he's surprised enough, to let you pry his hand open, and press the ring box into his palm.</p><p> </p><p>"it's never too late."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>crossposted from <a href="https://twitter.com/swords_cat">twitter</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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